Chapter 81: Ice Lemonade
"The braised pork ribs rice noodle dish from the state-owned restaurant? Is that true? The restaurant sells it for 50 cents a bowl." Some people didn't believe it.
Xiao Li simply lifted the lid of the pot and took out a piece of pork ribs to show.
Half an hour ago, he began to stew the spareribs over low heat. The rosy red sauce was bubbling, bringing out the rich aroma of the sauce.
"The smell is not good enough." An old customer in the crowd sniffed the air hard and curled his lips.
After saying that, he turned around and sat at the stall in Haiyu Village, and skillfully paid for his order.
"Okay, please wait a moment, the powder will be here soon." Zhang Wenxin smiled secretly, and then deliberately prolonged her voice.
Xiao Li was very angry. He hated to hear people say that he was not as good as Hu Laosan.
Same ingredients, same steps, how could the taste be different!
"Everyone, you won't know how it tastes until you try it, and it's only half the price of a state-owned restaurant." Seeing that some people were hesitant, Xu Yu stepped forward to persuade them, "The first ten customers will get a cup of iced mung bean soup."
Speaking of this, he was very proud, this was his trump card.
Upon hearing this, the person who was still hesitating immediately chose Taohua Village's braised pork ribs with rice noodles.
The weather has been a lot hotter recently, and you'll start sweating if you stay outside for a while. The free iced mung bean soup is very attractive.
Soon, their table was full of people.
Xu Yu looked at Yu Zhile and Zhang Wenxin with a smug look on his face, his nose almost pointing up in the air.
Such a scene made him feel that it was worth spending a day coaxing the daughter of the director of the popsicle factory.
At this time, Huo Tianhe approached holding a large watermelon with moisture on it, followed by a group of people.
"Watermelon, I'll treat you guys." He walked to the stove and glanced at Yu Zhile shyly.
"Thank you." Yu Zhile smiled, "All the dishes, and a glass of lemonade?"
"Yes." Huo Tianhe's face turned red and his head almost buried in the ground.
When his friends saw this scene, they banged on the table and made a noise.
Huo Tianhe turned around and pretended to frown: "Stop making so much noise. Tell me what you want to eat. It's my treat today."
"Beauty, we want the same fans as him!" The six people looked at each other and shouted to Yu Zhile in unison.
These people were about fourteen or fifteen years old, with the childishness still on their faces. When they shouted, they sounded like crying baby birds in a bird's nest.
Suddenly, Zhang Wenxin burst out laughing, and then tried to hold back his laughter while cooking noodles.
The customer flow diverted from Taohua Village did not have much impact on their business. The customers who sat on the floor last time even brought their own small stools this time.
Xu Yu was very jealous, but he had no better way to compete, so he began to brag about Xiao Li's cooking skills and shamelessly claimed that one of his ancestors had been a royal chef.
Not only that, he also implicitly said that the fans of Haiyu Village were not up to standard and were not worthy of the workers in the city.
This whole incident actually brought some guests to Taohua Village.
Yu Zhile and Zhang Wenxin were too busy to pay attention to him and rolled their eyes in tacit understanding.
At that time, a group of well-dressed old men and women walked into the market and asked around for stalls selling pickled pepper powder.
Xu Yu saw them first and confirmed at a glance that they were not short of money, so he went up to greet them enthusiastically.
"Are you here for lunch? Would you like to try the braised pork ribs rice noodle at our stall? The taste is comparable to that of a state-owned restaurant, and we also have iced mung bean soup for one cent a bowl." He was determined to win.
The old man who led the group waved his hand and said, “We’re here to eat pickled peppers.”
"That stall has the most people, right there." The old lady next to him pointed to the stall in Haiyu Village.
The group was already extremely hot and walked quickly in the direction she pointed.
Xu Yu chased after them like a dog-skin plaster and persuaded them, "Old sir, our chef's cooking skills are inherited from our ancestors. They are a hundred times more delicious than pickled pepper powder."
"No, no, no." The old lady walking at the end spoke in an extremely impatient tone, as if she was shooing away a fly.
Her companion said, "Young man, don't waste your breath. We are here for the pickled pepper powder."
Xu Yu failed to attract customers and returned to his stall cursing.
A group of guests just left Haiyu Village, so the group sat down directly.
"Nier, give me ten bowls of your best-selling dish." The old man in the lead waved his hand and took out a big unity.
Zhang Haizhu immediately stepped forward to receive him and started to sell him a cup of lemonade: "One cent a cup of lemonade, it will quench your thirst and relieve the spiciness. Would you like a few cups?"
The old man looked at his friends, all sweating profusely, and said, "Then let's have ten cups."
"Jiubei, I'll go to the stall next door to buy a bowl of mung bean soup." The old lady who was wiping her sweat waved.
"Okay." Zhang Haizhu gave the old man change quickly and explained to him, "The best-selling noodles here are the ones with abalone, shrimp and bean sprouts. They're 35 cents a portion, and I'll give you 5.60 yuan back."
The old man had inquired about the business model of this stall in advance, and when he saw that she didn't just order the most expensive noodles, he nodded with satisfaction.
The old lady got up to buy mung bean soup, but was rejected by Xu Yu.
"Auntie, the iced mung bean soup here is only for our customers to buy." He said sarcastically, "It's not for pairing with the country folks' pickled pepper powder of unknown origin."
His words flattered some of the self-righteous guests, who chimed in, "That's right, Auntie, you should go back and drink that lemonade you've never even heard of."
As soon as the words were spoken, someone sneered in agreement.
Xu Yu looked contemptuous and took the opportunity to promote his ancestral craftsmanship and severely criticized Haiyu Village.
The old lady was so angry that she gasped for breath.
"Oh? A family craft? Which famous chef taught it to you?" Yu Zhile couldn't stand it anymore, so she asked Zhang Haizhu to take her place and asked questions while helping the old lady calm down.
When Xiao Li saw Yu Zhile come forward, he wanted to speak up to stop things from going further, but he was faster than Xu Yu.
Xu Yu snorted arrogantly: "Of course it's Chef Hu from the state-owned restaurant."
Hu San was very famous in Haidong Town. His guests inexplicably felt honored and straightened their backs a little.
"Chef Hu." Yu Zhile curled his lips.
Xu Yu had a bad feeling and turned around to wink at Xiao Li, asking him to speak.
Xiao Li didn't dare to say a word and just lowered his head to cook the noodles.
"Wow, it turns out you're Hu San's apprentice. No wonder you look familiar to me." The old man walked over.
Suddenly, he changed the subject: "This girl is Hu San's master. According to you, is pickled pepper vermicelli superior to braised pork rib vermicelli?"
Xu Yu thought of Xiao Li's attitude and knew that what he said was true, but he denied it: "Old man, are you confused because of the heat? How dare you say such a thing?"
"That's right, sir, what you said is enough to make people laugh." Some customers could not accept this fact and spoke up to defend Xu Yu.
Yu Zhile asked with a half-smile: "Xiao Li, what do you think?"
Xiao Li didn't even dare to look up at her.
"Oh, it turns out that this little girl is Chef Hu's master. No wonder I felt that the braised pork ribs here weren't as delicious as Chef Hu's." A lady at a stall in Taohua Village suddenly said, "I thought there was something wrong with my tongue."
She learned from her coworkers that Chef Hu's master had set up a stall at the market, and naturally assumed that he was selling the state-owned restaurant's signature braised pork ribs noodles.
After learning the truth, she felt from the bottom of her heart that the thirty cents she spent today was not worth it.
"Aunt, she paid you to make a false testimony." Xu Yu's mind raced, and he did not hesitate to throw the slanderous water on his elder sister.
The eldest sister was not one to be bullied, and she yelled, "You are such a funny guy. You can't cook as well as the girl, so you just mess around with her. Your heart is smaller than the eye of a needle."
The balance of public opinion gradually tilted towards Haiyu Village.
Seeing that things were not going well, Xu Yu began to confuse right and wrong: "You are just jealous that we have iced mung bean soup to sell, so you deliberately made such a scene to slander us. No wonder the ancients said that women are the most vicious."
"Heh, it's just iced mung bean soup, what's there to be envious of?" Zhou Yuesheng sneered.
Everyone's eyes turned to the man who suddenly appeared and the wooden box wrapped in a thick quilt beside him.
The cool feeling made them sure that the box was full of ice.
Zhou Yuesheng pulled the cart towards Yu Zhile and said, "I asked them to make a new mold, and the ice is only a few centimeters in size."
"It's just right." Yu Zhile was a little surprised and smiled with curved eyebrows.
The next second, the sound of ding-ling ding-ling attracted everyone's attention again.
Ge Tai rode Hu Lan into the market.
"She's a salesperson at a state-owned restaurant!" Many people recognize her even though they don't eat out often.
Hu Lan jumped out of the car, squeezed into the crowd, and walked straight to Xiao Li.
She slapped Xiao Li out of the blue and said in a cold voice, "People say that a teacher is a father for life, but you are so good that you team up with outsiders to bully your master. This slap is for you to betray your master and forget your ancestors."
Her words indirectly confirmed Yu Zhile's identity, causing an uproar.
This slap made Xu Yu lose face and he shrank back to accept the pointing and criticizing of the onlookers.
"Little girl, you don't only sell the ice lemonade at your stall to your own customers, do you?" The old lady glanced at him and asked Yu Zhile deliberately.
Yu Zhile replied: "No, anyone can buy it."
"Give me two glasses, full of ice!" the old lady said loudly.
Yu Zhile smiled and said, "Okay, please wait a moment."
Hu Lan took her arm affectionately and explained, "I was busy just now and came late, which made you feel wronged. I will ask Lao San to get some compensation for you later."
Yu Zhile had anticipated this and asked Ge Tai to invite people in advance.
"Not too early, not too late, just right." Yu Zhile pulled her back to his stall.
Zhou Yuesheng followed them with ice cubes and was responsible for selling lemonade at the stall.
All of a sudden, everyone rushed to line up in front of him.
Many people were attracted by the aroma of pickled pepper powder while waiting in line, so they simply ordered some powder and found a place to sit while waiting for their iced lemonade and powder.
Ice-cold lemonade tastes better, and many people fall in love with it after just one sip.
"Who is he?" Huo Tianhe asked Zhang Haizhu quietly.
Zhang Haizhu looked in the direction of his finger and replied, "He is Lele's fiancé."
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